Zach's First Gym Challenge

"So this is Galar? It looks beautiful." Chloe spoke as her eyes gazed upon the small town of Turffield, now that the Vermilion City business was behind them they had immediately taken a ride back to Galar so that Zach could challenge Milo and earn his first badge.

"Yep, Turffield to be precise. It's farmer country mostly," Marnie spoke up.

"Even the Gym Leader himself is a farmer," Zach added with a light nod while his eyes focused upon the stadium in the horizon, slowly turning to head to face Scorbunny as the Fire type looked up at him from his arms with a smile across her face. "Soon that badge will be ours!"

"Scor!" Scorbunny cheered while Lucario nodded with a smirk.

"Car."

"Well what are we waiting for, let's go! I'm psyched to see a Galar gym battle in action!" Ash shouted out, his fists pumped as excitement shined across his face.

Upon reaching the stadium Zach broke off from the others and headed on into the locker room to get changed, tossing off his usual outfit before taking a long hard stare at his gym uniform. It still felt so strange having a sponsor that he'd never gotten to meet, he hoped that that'd change soon. He put on his gym uniform before turning to his Pokemon partners and giving the two a light nod.

"Let's go!"

"And here is the debut of one of this year's new challengers, choosing his number in memory of an old Nintendo console and hailing from Wedgehurst, it's number 64, Zach!" The announcer shouted out as he introduced Zach, the crowd roared loudly at the prospect of possibly gaining a new favorite. Of course some could just as well be Milo fans hyped for another win. "...Zach?" The announcer spoke as Zach never came out.

Zach had frozen up right at the end of the tunnel as his eyes were locked onto the large crowd within the stadium, his body was shaking and frozen in place as stage fright had fully taken control of his body.

Lucario looked at his trainer with concern before letting out a light cry as he grabbed his hand and began leading him back to the locker room where Zach began regaining focus before placing his head into his hands as he let out a sigh. "I think we need to go for a walk, I-I'm not feeling too good..."

He walked on out of the gym without a word to the others as he started walking aimlessly around town, too lost in his thoughts that he hardly noticed he was approaching the outskirts and soon reaching the lookout of the city's famous geoglyph, bumping right into someone and causing him to immediately apologize.

"S-Sorry!"

"Zach?!" He felt himself being pulled into a warm and tight hug causing himself to snap out of his trance and notice Sonia.

"Sonia!" A sudden surge of warmness filled his body at the sight of his closest human friend, wrapping his arms around her as he returned the hug. "What are you doing here?"

"I've come to look over the geoglyph, I have a feeling that there's some sort of connection between that and the Darkest Day phenomenon. But enough about that what are you doing here in that?" Sonia's eyes looked towards his gym uniform. "Shouldn't you be at the gym?"

"I-I was! I had gotten ready to step out onto the field but found myself frozen in place, the large crowd... it feels a lot bigger down there than it does in the stands!"

Sonia gave him an understanding smile as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "I have a theory on that happened, you've always been fairly shy. I first noticed years ago when I introduced you and Nessa, you could barely speak to her and ended up running away. You've improved since then making new friends while also catching quite a few Pokemon, I've been keeping track of your Pokedex data and it's quite impressive!" Sonia's eyes glanced to Lucario explaining why she didn't seem the least bit surprised of his presence. "Congratulations by the way."

"Car!" Lucario cried out.

"It's clear you're still shy and there's nothing wrong with that! You simply got stage fright upon seeing those people, just try focusing on something else. Rather it be the task at hand, the upcoming battle... or maybe somebody you like?" Sonia added while twirling her ponytail lightly with her finger as a blush formed across her face. "I'll even come with you and watch from the locker room so I'll be close by if you start panicking and need my company again. I'll always be here for you,"

Zach stared off as he appeared to be deep in thought before eventually nodding his head and giving Sonia a warm look of appreciation before pulling her into another hug. "Thanks Sonia, you're the best! I-I'd like for you to be there," He felt more confident than before but he was still worried that he'd freeze up again and having her around would hopefully help. "I can't explain it but... it's nice having you around."

Sonia blushed once more before taking his hand, a warm smile across her lips. "Well then let's get you back to that gym battle shall we?"


"And with that Gym Challenger Bede has proved himself the winner!" The crowd cheered as Bede took the badge before promptly leaving the field, turning to Eevee as soon as they were out of sight.

"That was pathetic, you didn't even beat a single Pokemon when we were in there! You're lucky that Hatenna pulled their weight or we'd have lost!" Bede growled out. Rose's approval meant everything to him and he wasn't going to let a Pokemon hold him back, even if they'd been partners for over a year.

"Eevee..." Eevee lowered his ears with a depressed expression.

"Eevee's grow stronger when you're kind and supportive to them you know," Zach spoke up as he happened to enter right as Bede was leaving. "If Espeon or Sylveon is what you're after then you'll never get there with how you treat him."

Bede huffed turning to face Zach with a glare. "Like I care what a weakling thinks you haven't even evolved your Rio-oh." Bede's eyes locked onto Lucario while a frustrated look quickly formed across his face, his hand tightly gripping the Pokeball that belonged to Eevee as it started to crack before he eventually released his grip on it. "Let's go Eevee."

"Vee..." Eevee reluctantly followed Bede, glancing back at Zach before disappearing from the room.

Zach glared after Bede while Sonia took hold of his hand to calm him down.

"Unfortunately there's nothing you can do about that, Eevee's his Pokemon and so long as he doesn't abuse Eevee we can't get anyone to step in." Sonia forced a smile across her face before giving Zach a light push. "Now get out there and earn that badge and remember what I told you!"

"R-Right, f-focus on the task and battle..." Zach muttered, closing his eyes and slowing his breath as he calmed his thoughts and focused his mind completely on the gym challenge. Lucario grabbed his trainer's hand and growled lightly telling him that he'd sit this one out and stay by his side. "Thank you Lucario, l-let's get going!" Zach turned to wave back at Sonia before walking out onto the field as the announcer spoke up once more.

"And it looks like Challenger 64 Zach has finally shown himself, let's see what this challenger has in store for us in the challenge and Gym Battle up ahead!"

"There he is!" Chloe leaped up from her seat and began waving her arms frantically in the hopes of getting his attention only to tilt her head as she realized his vision was focused entirely on the battlefield and not even making an effort to look around.

Milo walked onto the field as it transformed into what appeared to be a farm field with a pen located at each side of it as a lot of cute sheep Pokemon were released out onto the field before grazing upon the grass. The Gym Leader smiled before taking a light bow as the crowd chanted out his name. "Greetings challenger, the task you are to take before earning the right to face me is to simply gather up all these Wooloo into their pins. You can use whatever means possible just don't drag their unconscious bodies!" Milo chuckled lightly before waving his hand as the referee waved his flag and a siren went off, alerting Zach to the start of the challenge as he grabbed a hold of two Pokeballs.

"Corvisquire and Piplup, let's go!"

"Corvi!"

"Pip!" The two bird Pokemon appeared from their confinement as they gazed at their trainer and awaited his command. Several of the crowd gasped at the sight of Piplup as it's presence wasn't something you'd see every day in the Galar League!

"Piplup, I want you to Peck the Wooloo to herd them into the pen on my left."

"Pip?" Piplup pointed to his own left causing Zach to sweat as he didn't feel like getting into one of those arguments.

"Right! Corvisquire you pick up any strays with your talons and drop them into the other one."

His two Pokemon nodded in response before rushing off. Piplup's beak shined brightly as he pecked one Wooloo in the behind causing it to cry out and start running with several getting into a group as Piplup gave chase and led them to the corral. Corvisquire began plucking Wooloo up and dropping them into the pin one after the other. It didn't take too long to finish up as it was a rather simple task due to it being the first gym.

"Incredible, Piplup is quite an odd sight to see within the Galar League and both Pokemon listened to their trainer perfectly! But that was only the first half of the challenge, he still has to face Milo himself! Does Zach have what it takes to win here?!"

"Those Wooloo sure are cute," Chloe commented as she glanced down at the field.

"Really? Cause I can help you catch one after we're done here." Marnie offered. "You will need more than just Eevee if you start traveling alone someday." She pointed out.

Chloe looked thoughtful for a moment while the gym's field changed back into a battle field and Zach recalled Piplup and Corvisquire to their Pokeballs.

"Good job you two, you did an awesome job! Scorbunny and Butterfree will take over from here."

Milo took his position at the other end of the battlefield and gave his opponent a friendly smile. "Well it's time for our battle, good luck to you this is going to be a doozy of a battle!" He grabbed a ball and threw it forward. "Gossifleur, let's go!"

"Gossi!"

"Scorbunny!" The Fire type leaped from her trainer's arms upon being called, leaping onto the field before smirking as her eyes laid upon the Grass type. Gossifleur stared back with a confident expression but could visibly be seen shaking.

"Flame Charge!" Scorbunny's body became encased in an orange flame as she raced across the field and tackled Gossifleur, the Grass type let out a shriek of pain before collapsing from the singular attack causing the audience to gasp in shock as Zach rubbed the back of his neck knowing that Scorbunny was a bit overkill seeing how his team was more than ready to face the gym but kept getting delayed from it for various reasons. He occasionally trained with Ash's newer captures like Sobble and Dreepy who were already growing into fairly strong Pokemon of their own and awaited a World Championship match against somebody.

Milo stood there with his jaw dropped and his eyes wide before quickly putting on a calm face for the crowd as he returned Gossifleur to her Pokeball.

"Incredible folks Scorbunny managed to take out Gossifleur with a single attack! Can Milo possibly recover from this with his final Pokemon?"

"Scor scor!" Scorbunny waved to the crowd as they cheered for her.

"Alright looks like I'm gonna have to pull out one of my bigger toys for this battle," Milo said with a smirk. "Ludicolo let's dance!"

"Ludicolo!" The Water/Grass type burst out and immediately sprang into a dance as he stood on the opposite end of the field.

Zach gritted his teeth at the sight, knowing Ludicolo was a more advanced Pokemon of Milo's and could easily give Scorbunny a run for her money if the water attacks struck but thankfully due to Ludicolo's dual typing Fire type attacks still did decent damage, if they could get Scorbunny fast enough they wouldn't need to worry about getting hit!

"Flame Charge!"

"Scor!" Scorbunny's body became encased in flame as she raced across the field and tackled Ludicolo causing the party Pokemon to spin and teeter in place as he fought to keep his balance before regaining his footing and having a firm stance upon the ground.

"Ludicolo!"

"Teeter Dance!" Milo shouted.

Ludicolo began dancing and twirling in place in a manner that was both hypnotic and catchy, Scorbunny began dancing as well before stopping and spinning in place with a dazed look across her face.

"Scor..."

'Well Flame Charge is too risky now, let's try a range attack.' "Scorbunny use Electro Ball!"

The electrical sphere of energy appeared within her grasp as Scorbunny dropped it to the ground, giving it a swift kick upwards before it came crashing downwards upon her head. "Scor..."

"Hydro Pump!" Ludicolo released a powerful stream of water from his mouth, soaking Scorbunny but snapping her out of the trance as she began freaking out upon getting wet. Her face burning bright red as she shook her fist at Ludicolo.

"That's it Scorbunny, great job!" Zach praised his Fire type before thrusting out his arm and ordering the next attack. "Now let's use Electro Ball for real this time!"

"Scor!" Scorbunny smirked at Ludicolo as she formed an electrical ball of energy before swiftly dropping it and kicking it at Ludicolo with precise aim! Ludicolo's body got zapped with a light dose of electricity while Milo looked his Pokemon over before swiftly returning him as he activated his Dynamax Band. Zach's eyes widened before he called Scorbunny back, there was no way she'd survive a Max Geyser and if Butterfree came out while Ludicolo was Dynamaxed he was screwed!

Scorbunny perked her lips, crossing her arms before reluctantly obeying her trainer as she knew he had good reasoning for it. Even though she wanted to evolve she wasn't going to pull a Linoone and not be a team player, especially as it would most likely cost them the match! Scorbunny leaped back into her trainer's arm as he reached for the ball containing Butterfree and activated his own Dynamax Band, Butterfree's ball grew within his grasp before being thrown onto the field!

"Butterfree I'm counting on you!"

"Freee!" Unlike Ludicolo who appeared as a kaiju sized version of himself and nothing more, Butterfree's wings had expanded to an immense size and changed color to a beautiful bright green and white color scheme that shimmered brightly as he fluttered his wings.

"He's beautiful!" Chloe and Eevee's eyes lit up as Gigantamax Butterfree came into view. Ash's own eyes lit up at the sight while he silently wished that he had gotten to experience this with his own Butterfree.

"Max Geyser!"

Ludicolo launched a massive stream of water from his mouth as rain started to pour down upon the battlefield, the blast of water struck Butterfree and knocked his body about for a moment before regaining a balanced motion in the air.

"Max Flutterby!"

Multicolored sparks of light appeared around Butterfree's body, forming into green energy orbs before bursting and releasing blasts of green energy upon the opponent. The attack struck and Ludicolo began spinning about in place as he started tiring out and soon losing balance as he toppled forward, crashing into the ground with a hard thud as the scoreboard quickly adjusted to showcase Zach as the winner while the crowd started cheering and some even chanting his name but he wasn't certain nor did he really want to try and look. He quickly turned to the crowd and forced the best smile he could upon his face as he waved at the audience. Lucario smirked at his trainer and lightly nodded while Scorbunny was being a showboat and bowing to the crowds cheers.

"Return Butterfree, you did an awesome job and deserve a rest!" Zach smiled at the ball containing his first capture before placing it back onto his belt.

Milo began approaching him, a smile upon the gym leader's face as he congratulated his challenger. "That was an incredible battle, nobody's pushed to use somebody stronger in quite some time. You seem to have quite the powerful bond forming with your Pokemon, hopefully I'll see you at the Galar League finals this year as I'd like to battle you again when we're both giving it our all!"

"I-I'll definitely be there, I aim to take the title of champion after all!"

"Competition will be fierce but good luck, Galar could use a champion like you." Milo held out his hand as he gave Zach his first badge. "Now take the Grass Badge, you've earned it. Your next step is the gym in Hulbury, good luck with your travels!" Milo waved before walking towards the tunnel on the opposite end of the field.

Zach stared down at the badge in silence for a few moments as a large smile formed across his face. Scorbunny and Lucario joined their trainer in staring at it before Zach carefully put it away in a badge case so he wouldn't lose it. "Alright! One badge down, seven to go!"

"Car!"

"Scor!" The two Pokemon cheered with their trainer before following him off of the field where Sonia immediately flung herself upon him, holding him in a tight hug as she let out a high pitched squeal.

"I knew you could do it, congratulations Zach!" She pulled away from him with a look full of fondness and affection for him shining in her eyes.

"All thanks to you, I-I'm not cured but I think I'll definitely be okay from here on out!" Zach quickly returned the hug, Sonia's body shaking with glee as she did her best to control herself. "I-I'd like it if you still came to watch my matches though, even if I don't need it it does feel nicer knowing you're here." He felt a sudden hotness coming to his face causing him to look away from her as Scorbunny and Lucario snickered lightly.

"O-Of course! Just give me a ring when you're about to face a gym and I'll hop on the next train available! Now much as I'd love to stay and celebrate with you I've got to get back to grandma and give her this research!" Sonia spoke, her eyes looking downward as she displayed her reluctance on the matter. Her body began shaking for a moment as she took a deep breath, Zach was really brave today on facing his fear so she would too! Sonia leaned forward and gave Zach a quick kiss on the cheek causing both of their faces to burn bright red as they gazed at one another for what felt like an eternity. A large delighted grin formed on Sonia's face as she learned what she needed to, planning on talking with him about it later. She turned around and gave him a wave as she left, Zach silently gazed after her as she disappeared before eventually turning back to Scorbunny and Lucario who were giving him goofy smirks.

"Oh please as if I don't see the way you two look at each other when you think I'm not looking." Scorbunny and Lucario's faces burned brightly as the Pokemon looked away from one another, Zach laughed lightly before waving his hand as he guided them out of the gym and towards the front door where he promised to meet the others earlier.

"There's the big winner, congratula-" Marnie paused as she noticed teal green lipstick on the side of his friend's cheek, a smirk crossed her face as she gave Zach a playful nudge. "You sly dog is that why you didn't come onto the field at first?"

"What? N-No!"

"He's clearly shy." Chloe spoke up. "I'd know cause so am I. He might have gotten stage fright."

"R-Right!" Zach laughed nervously before turning his gaze towards Ash. "So where are we going next?"

"I-I don't exactly know!" Ash laughed causing the others to face fault as they realized Ash hadn't planned out his next challenge yet. "Maybe... Drake from the Hoenn Region, he's a powerful Dragon type master and if I aim to beat Raihan in the Championships then I ought to beat the guys that he beat too! Perhaps I'll challenge the other Elite Four members too." He had challenged Drake once before and lost in the past but that was years ago, today would be different!

"Hoenn sounds fine to me!" Zach smiled though truthfully any region would have gotten the same response as he held the side of his cheek with one hand.


The next morning Ash stood out on deck of a cruise ship that was taking the group to a group of islands to the far south of Hoenn where it was rumored that Drake was training. Ash had his eyes set on the horizon as the sun started to rise, making a red blur speeding towards the ship unnoticeable at first before water started flying upwards as the Pokemon gained speed, a loud wave of water splashed down onto the deck and completely soaking his jacket as he felt the presence of a Pokemon that he had only ever seen one of once, nearly seven years ago. The red eon twin hovered in front of him before closing her eyes and forming a telepathic link.

"Greetings chosen one, my cousin speaks quite well of you. It's quite fortunate that you found yourself in my range actually as I have some dire news, my brother has been captured by a poacher and needs rescuing but... I'm nowhere near as strong as he is, if the poacher took him down I don't stand a chance!"

Ash clenched his fists as anger visibly shined within his eyes. "I'll be glad to help you but I should bring my frie-"

"NO!" Latias' face changed to that of anger for a brief moment before calming down. "Sorry but my brother will freak if I bring a whole party of humans with me. Our home is supposed to be secret, an uncharted island. I can convince him that you can be trusted but not the rest."

"But what will I tell-"

"It's done," Latias said with a simple blink as she filled the others in via here telepathic abilities. "Now come chosen one, let's go free my brother from the clutches of those vile villains!"

"And stop calling me that, the name's Ash Ketchum!"

"Fair enough, Ash. Hop on board." Latias positioned herself so that Ash could climb onboard, Latias waited until he and Pikachu were safely on her back before blasting off in the direction of her home. "We're coming brother, just hang on!"

I changed up Milo's team positioning slightly, I felt that it was just far too easy for Zach to sweep with Scorbunny otherwise. Milo is too easy in the games haha!

The 'challenges' themselves will also utilize his team, allowing for Pokemon to help out like Corvisquire and Piplup did.

And I actually do have Ash's opponents planned despite Ash possibly making it not look that way here, Drake's been a character alongside Palmer that I've wanted to see Ash rematch and win against since I first saw those episodes.

Anyways Latias is up next~